Principal's Notes

Mr. Marc Weisgold, Principal

Hello and welcome back!!

Hard to believe that the summer months have slipped away so quickly. The close of summer means that a new year in the Elk Lake Elementary will begin and that's exciting! Personally, as the principal I am more refreshed and recharged than ever. We are excited to start another educational adventure with your child. The mantra for the school year is Kintsugi. This ancient term has to do with skilled artists beautifully putting back together broken pottery. In the elementary, I challenged the staff to make sure we accept everyone’s differences and except all the challenges for the year. Work at putting it all together and making a beautiful environment and create a culture in which learning flushies. Simple but powerful, the accepted this challenge. From time to time I will be posting events that have happened or will be happening in the near future. The Elk Lake Elementary is committed to your child in their success and growth. Our staff works tirelessly day in and day out to ensure that your child has the best elementary experience possible. We hope to inspire and engage students in a thinking curriculum. Elk Lake Elementary students will achieve personal success and become ready, respectful, and responsible citizens. Our staff will work together through collaboration and focused teaching with clear expectations. The elementary will ensure student success by understanding that good instruction builds on students’ strengths and respects their individual differences. Elk Lake will also ensure that students are working within an aligned instructional system that focuses on powerful knowledge.

Some new items to mention are as follows; we started off the year with our first annual FunFest. Over 175 backpacks were given away for free. There was music, food, games and a chance to meet the teacher, all for free! We had over 50 community members or business donate to help the cause(they are listed below). We are also unveiling new skills based report cards and the elementary trimesters. You can read about both of these initiatives on the elementary website. There is a philosophy that surrounds each, frequently asked questions, and sample report cards with an explanation of each assessed skill. Additionally, the elementary will start electronic portfolios that track the students career and college readiness. This is being implemented through our guidance department as well as our elementary computer teacher. Another exciting project we are working on is the continued development of the STEM lab in the library. Recently, we were awarded a grant and with that grant we purchased several awesome tools such Makey Makeys ( https://makeymakey.com/) and Ozobots ( https://ozobot.com/stem-education ). Both of these items will allow students to create, collaborate and imagine. Lastly, I would like to make sure you are aware of the new community survey about the elementary on the school website at the bottom of the page. Please let us know how you feel. Let us know what we are doing well in and what we need to improve in. It's important that we all work together so that we are ensuring the best experience for all students in the elementary.

I hope that you find these notes of value. As always if I can be any of any assistance personally please feel free to contact me at marc.weisgold@elklakeschool.org or you can reach me by phone at 570-278-1106 extension 731. Thank you!

THANK YOU TO ALL THE DONORS LISTED BELOW THAT MADE FUNFEST A HUGE SUCCESS: